T. Schwarz 2019 Winter Build - FOS Scale Models Deckers Tar Soap

[GPdemayo]

It's starting to look like a building Jim.....nice progress. 

[PRR Modeler]

Looks great Jim. It does look complicated to put together correctly.

[jimmillho]

That's a lot of walls to put together.

Jim

[postalkarl]

Hey Jim:

Looks just great. I built thisone when it first came out. It's A great kit. One I really liked.

Karl

[Opa George]

Jim, looking really nice, and all those lovely unusual wall angles are making a very interesting structure. Very pleasing to the eye.
--George

[Jim Donovan]

Folks

Thanks for the encouragement and the nice comments. I am making progress in spurts on this kit. Also after finishing a step I find something I don't like and end up going back to fix it. In this case it was the covered staircase.

However first the instructions called for adding 1/8 inch basswood as the foundation for the structure. I am planning to add LED lighting and have viewing to parts of the interior so I added mat board as well. This adds .05 inch to the height. Combined with the 1/8 inch basswood this will make the foundation about 15 HO scale inches.

To give the foundation a finished look I added some of the brick texture paper I have. The pictures attached show the results.

[deemery]

That brick foundation looks pretty good.  Just make sure that the foundation is not flush with the walls.  The walls should overhang a little bit, so water drips off rather than running between the foundation and the walls.  (That's one of those things that bothers me whenever I see it on a model.    )


dave

[Jim Donovan]

I had used pre-made board and batten from Mt. Albert (Fasttracks) for my first effort on the covered staircase wall. I just did not like how it came out. Too dark, too ugg, just blah. So I decided to try again, this time making my own.

I cut cardstock material to shape and marked off scale 12 inches across the top and bottom. I took 2 x 12 scale lumber and dipped it in Hunterline Driftwood for about 10 seconds. After drying I used a natural sponge and dry brushed Antique White Cremacoat board by board to help create random patterns of pealing. I glued the boards side by side on the index card. Flipping the glued boards over I trimmed them to the correct length and shape of the index card. I then took 2 x3 scale lumber and dipped it in Hunterline Cordovan Brown. These boards were also dried brushed but with Ivory color. They were then cut to size and glued to the joints between the 12 inch boards.

Finally, when everything was dry (the next day), I tried something I had read (frankly everything did I've read!!). I took a natural sponge and dipped it in Hunterline Light Gray. I tapped it on a paper towel until it was spotty and 'dry brushed' the wall using the sponge. I liked it. So I did the same thing using Antique White on the other walls, just touching the clap board so if any paint transferred it was right on the edge. I liked that too, much more than my previous efforts using a brush. I think the new staircase wall came out better. Still room for improvement but it's in the right direction.

I wanted to see how the white Evens Decal material would do as a sign so I used it for the front wall sign; Schwarz Stamping & Mfg. I again used 2 x 12 scale boards and made the backing. They were dipped in Driftwood and placed on two-sided tape side-by-side. I printed out the sign and let it dry overnight. After placing the decal on the backboard and letting it dry I framed the sign with 1 x 3 boards dipped in Hunterline Brown. What I was hoping for is the decal to allow the wood to show through. This sign took a while to do, I can see the wood showing but not sure it is enough to do again. Still I learned something. By the way, I ended up having to glue the edges of the decal down with canopy glue so that it would not peal. I will be using the Evens material again but I think it works best on glass or plastic.

Here is where we are now:

[Jim Donovan]

That brick foundation looks pretty good.  Just make sure that the foundation is not flush with the walls.  The walls should overhang a little bit, so water drips off rather than running between the foundation and the walls.  (That's one of those things that bothers me whenever I see it on a model.    )


dave

Funny you mentioned that Dave, it is something I try to take into consideration. I just finished catching up where I am at present. I think the foundation came out OK, it will get weathered later but I need to keep it seperate from walls for now so I can work on electric, which is next up.

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling Jim.

[Jim Donovan]

Finally made enough progress to report. Next up on the project is roofing which on this kit is interesting and fun. That said I also managed to find the hard way to accomplish it. 

However, first a moment of venting. Decker's Tar Soap is not an inexpensive kit. I have been happy with the project, that is until I came to the roof. The base material is laser cut cardboard. It is nice cardboard as far as cardboard goes but none-the-less but it is CARDBOARD! I know there is always the option of using a different material (and did) by frankly I expected a little better. I found 1/64 thick micro plywood at Michaels and used the cardboard as templates to cut out the plywood. A laser would have made short work of the plywood and would fit the overall quality of the kit better if used instead of cardboard. Plywood does not get soggy.

OK, moving on.

[Jim Donovan]

Back to the fun. The directions call for rolled roofing on the left, staircase and middle section. Gravel roofing on the flat roof and finally corrugated on the dormer (?) section on the flat roof. I changed out the tar roof on the middle section and staircase with copper seamed roofing. To add some realism (or artistic license) I figured out how to get the copper to have a verdigris paina look using google (soak the copper in Miracle Grow and vinegar overnight, take out, let air dry and watch it change color). With some soft brushing I think it adds something to the model. I did go with a gravel roof for the top part of the staircase per contractor Greg D's suggestion. I used liquid lead to simulate the seal between the copper and the walls of the building as well as between the copper an upper part of the staircase.

Using Delta Ceramcoat Charcoal color, I cut and painted the paper strips needed for the rolled roofing. To present a finished, more permanent roof I again simulated sealing between the strips with liquid lead.

Then it was the main flat roof's turn. The directions call for putting down a thick black paint and sprinkling dirt (provided) to simulate a gravel roof. I remembered others (starting with Tom Langford) using sandpaper instead and painting it to get the right color. Also, I remembered to use the two-sided tape method of adhering the roof material to the sub-roof. I remembered this while already gluing the strips to the left part of the roof. Nothing like gluing a roof to not forgetting the two-sided tape method ever again. Only problem with all this remembering is it came after the main roof was on along with the domer structure and elevated area which the original kit has for a chemmy but I will use for something cooler, a water tower.

I had two options, one take the domer apart along with the frame for the elevated area then put down the sandpaper, paint it and put the dormer and elevated platform back in place, OR, make a template and make a complicated cutout of the sandpaper which might take three hours, yep I went with plan D (for Dumb). I did have one good idea, rather than simply painting the 180 grit sandpaper I used the sponge technique to apply first a light gray in a random pattern, next a medium brown, next dark umber and finally the charcoal gray (looks like grimy black). Building up the paint this way gave nice depth of color.

To finish, like the other roofs I used the liquid lead to simulate sealing where needed.

[Jim Donovan]

Finally, I cut the paper corrugated roofing material to 2 x 8 length, painted, weathered and covered the dormer area. I will be finishing the roof by adding trim underneath the ledge per directions and to help ensure the roof does not leak light when the structure is lite. So here is the building at this phase. I have left the foundation off and put the water tower in the place it will have when finished to give an idea how things are going to look.

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice Jim.

[Dave K.]

It's really coming together nicely, Jim. Nice job experimenting with new techniques...the walls look great! Still following...👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻